Got earplugs? I-5 grinding work to finish this fall

Updated 10:00 pm, Thursday, September 3, 2009

A grinding machine strips lanes of Interstate 5 in this May file photo. Work began in February and should conclude this fall.

A grinding machine strips lanes of Interstate 5 in this May file photo. Work began in February and should conclude this fall.

Photo: / Washington State Department Of Transportation

Got earplugs? I-5 grinding work to finish this fall

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Is that nighttime work on Interstate 5 grinding on your nerves?

If so, the state Department of Transportation is handing out earplugs and asking for your patience. Construction crews are in the final months of a project to grind down the freeway's roughest patches of pavement through Seattle for a safer and smoother ride.

The work should finish late this fall, and possibly in December. In the meantime, the noise is irritating some residents who live near the freeway. About 150 people have complained since April about the racket, which sounds like a lawn mower or a small plane.

"A lot of people thought it was some type of airplane or helicopter," said Aleta Borschowa, the project engineer. (If you want to hear it, WSDOT has a sample here.)

As part of the $21 million project, crews are smoothing out ruts and replacing 440 crumbling concrete panels to reverse 40 years of wear in both northbound and southbound lanes. The project has been underway, off and on, since February, and resumed in July after a two-month break for the contractor to finish another job in Eastern Washington.

According to WSDOT's blog, the circular, diamond-blade grinders "create a textured, corduroy pattern that improves traction for drivers and helps keep water off the road, preventing collisions."

The work is done in segments at night, so that closing lanes will have minimal impact on traffic. WSDOT officials say the noise is unavoidable.

"We considered placing shields around the grinders to soften the noise, but because the pavement grinders move about 6-10 feet each minute, it was impractical to keep setting and moving the shields," WSDOT spokeswoman Broch Bender wrote in a recent WSDOT e-newsletter.

WSDOT attempted to attach noise-reduction blankets around the grinding machines, but they would have created fire hazards .

Instead, WSDOT is offering free "construction-grade" earplugs to anyone who can't tolerate it. Bender estimates about 250 earplug packets have been issued. Anyone who wants a pair can call a 24-hour hotline at (206) 440-5169 or send an e-mail through the project Web site.

"They're better than what you can find in the corner store and they're designed to block out more noise. They're the same ones that our workers use when they're on the roads with the grinders," Bender said Thursday. "Once people receive the earplugs, we've heard they work pretty well."

Noise complaints heated up in July when people were leaving windows open at night to deal with Seattle's record-high temperatures. As work resumed last month, more complaints trickled in, although most people understand that the work in necessary, WSDOT officials say.

The contractor is simultaneously operating four grinders to more quickly complete the work. Most recently, the work has focused between Ravenna and Northgate, which had the deepest ruts and required more than one pass, said Borschowa, the project engineer.

Residents, however, will get some relief this weekend when crews break for the Labor Day holiday, Bender said. Work will resume next Tuesday between Northgate and Shoreline, from 92nd Street to Northeast 150th Street.

WSDOT says it takes about 10 minutes to grind 60 feet of concrete with the 4-foot grinding heads. According to WSDOT, the average property lot on I-5 is between 50 and 60 feet wide. Typically, residents will hear the grinding will dissipate over an hour or so as the machines progress down the road. In the recent construction around Ravenna, crews couldn't start until 9 p.m., and they had to finish by 5 a.m. on weekdays, Borschowa said.